All documents for the upcoming annual meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Victoria, British Columbia – including regulatory proposals, working papers and agency reports – must be received by Dec. 29 in order to be discussed at the meeting. Any documents received after the deadline will be considered for informational purposes only, the IPHC said.
A number of documents are already posted online at https://iphc.int/venues/details/95th-session-of-the-iphc-annual-meeting-am095, including a proposal from the IPHC Secretariat that the overall commercial fishing period for all IPHC regulatory areas be fixed from March 15 to Oct. 31. Fixing the season, the IPHC said, will allow the IPHC Secretariat to more effectively monitor and manage the fishery.
For Regulatory Area 2A, the IPHC Secretariat proposes fishing periods for the non-tribal directed commercial fishery either five-days or 10-days but suggests that any version of a longer fishing period, from two to 10 days, would be preferable to the 10-hour derby fishing period in current use. The IPHC said this change should be made now, in the interest of safety and within the current management structure of the fishery, ahead of and apart from any consideration of extensive modifications to management of this derby fishery. Reasons for longer fishing periods, according to the proposal, include safety, reduced regulatory discards, and flexibility for harvesters and processors.
The meeting will take place Jan. 28 through Feb. 1, 2019. All open sessions will be webcast, and webcast sessions will take audience comments and questions as directed by the commission chairman.
Registration for either in-person or webinar attendance is available online at https://iphc.int/venues/details/95th-session-of-the-iphc-annual-meeting-am095.
A number of documents are already posted online at https://iphc.int/venues/details/95th-session-of-the-iphc-annual-meeting-am095, including a proposal from the IPHC Secretariat that the overall commercial fishing period for all IPHC regulatory areas be fixed from March 15 to Oct. 31. Fixing the season, the IPHC said, will allow the IPHC Secretariat to more effectively monitor and manage the fishery.
For Regulatory Area 2A, the IPHC Secretariat proposes fishing periods for the non-tribal directed commercial fishery either five-days or 10-days but suggests that any version of a longer fishing period, from two to 10 days, would be preferable to the 10-hour derby fishing period in current use. The IPHC said this change should be made now, in the interest of safety and within the current management structure of the fishery, ahead of and apart from any consideration of extensive modifications to management of this derby fishery. Reasons for longer fishing periods, according to the proposal, include safety, reduced regulatory discards, and flexibility for harvesters and processors.
The meeting will take place Jan. 28 through Feb. 1, 2019. All open sessions will be webcast, and webcast sessions will take audience comments and questions as directed by the commission chairman.
Registration for either in-person or webinar attendance is available online at https://iphc.int/venues/details/95th-session-of-the-iphc-annual-meeting-am095.
.gif)